Boxing Day
by LadyLini
Summary: In which bets are made, Jackie Tyler slaps, and there is lots of fluff. (Ten/Rose, Tenpetals)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This will be two chapters, so keep a look out!**

**Disclaimer: I (still) don't own Doctor Who, I don't own the Doctor, I don't own Rose, and I don't own Jackie. **

* * *

For Greyson the greyhound, squirrel chasing was getting a bit old. They'd escape up the tree _every time. _He'd die of shock if he ever did succeed in catching one.

A reprieve from squirrel chasing was offered, one winter's day, when a blue police box materialized just a half block away from his home. He ran over, eagerly sniffing the new attraction. It took him less than a minute to begin sprinkling his scent over its base.

"Oi! Stop that!"

Greyson looked up, abruptly cutting off his stream. Well, fine. If this blonde human didn't want him here, he'd leave. He wasn't stupid enough to think he was this girl's alpha.

Another human, this one taller and with a much more peculiar way of dressing, emerged from the blue box and grasped the girl's hand. Their exchange carried back to Greyson as he trotted back home.

"You know I don't do _domestics._" The tall, strange man formed the last word disdainfully, as if it were a curse-word.

"It's one afternoon," the girl reminded him, her tone the same that Greyson's mistress used when reprimanding him. "You'll survive."

"Yes– but your _mother_," the man protested, running his free hand through his shaggy head-fur. Greyson wouldn't mind having fur like that. It was very nice looking.

"Will be pleased to see you," the girl promised and cast her smiling face upward, so she could catch the man's eye.

Greyson didn't hear the rest of the conversation, as the humans had apparently reached their destination. They entered one of the apartments in the same building that his mistress lived in. Greyson loitered a moment outside the door, sniffing at the crack between the floor and the bottom of the door, before realizing which human lived here.

The greyhound turned tail and fled, a small whimper escaping his lips.

The human that liked to slap lived there.

-l-l-l-l-l-

The turkey was burning and there was absolutely nothing that could be done about it. But Jackie Tyler tried anyway, because that was just the sort of stubborn woman she was.

It was during the aftermath of this episode that she heard knocking at her door. Jackie grumbled a bit as she marched toward her front room, but her muttered oaths came to an abrupt halt as she heard the faint mumblings of two very distinct voices.

"Rose!" Jackie cried, as she threw open the door. "Oh, thank the Lord you're okay!"

Rose allowed her mother her moment of hugging and greeting, then pulled back from her python-like grasp.

Jackie promptly turned to the one remaining party– the Doctor. "C'mere, you!"

"Oh, no, really–" the Doctor began, only to be cut off by Jackie's arms around his torso.

Rose couldn't help but smirk, as she watched the Doctor flail about, completely out of his depth. A battalion of Cybermen? Easy. A battle fleet of Daleks? He'll be home in time for tea. Boxing Day? Watch him squirm.

"Aren't we supposed to be boxing?" the Doctor asked, uncertainly holding his arms at ninety-degree angles to his torso and looking down at Jackie Tyler's blonde bun. "Or looking for baskets?"

Jackie let the poor Time Lord go and nonchalantly moved so that she was blocking the passage into the kitchen. "We're supposed to be spendin' time with family, ya big numbskull," she answered. "Seein' as you've taken my daughter away for the rest of the year! Didn't even get her back in time for Christmas, did ya?"

"Actually," Rose said, guiltily raising her hand, "I asked to skip Christmas–"

Jackie's face went slack with anger.

The Doctor prepared to duck.

"Why the hell would you ask for _that?_" Jackie cried, her face going a brilliant shade of red.

The Doctor flinched, but Jackie's palms stayed on the opposite side of the room.

"Because it seems like there's always somethin' that needs stoppin' on Christmas," Rose replied calmly. The _duh_ was implied.

There was a moment of silence after Rose's statement, during which Jackie was reminded of just exactly what it was her daughter did during the rest of the year.

Three quick, long strides and a whistle of air later, the Doctor was holding his bright red cheek. "What was that for?" he demanded, more in surprise than actual pain.

"Riskin' my daughter's life," Jackie responded. Then, she grabbed the Doctor by the jacket and planted a kiss on his injured cheek. "And that's for bringin' her back."

The Doctor took an involuntary step away from the bottle-blonde menace. The woman terrified him.

"Right then!" Rose broke in, saving the Doctor from the extremely dangerous force of nature referred to as _Jackie Tyler._ "Turkey– you told me you were makin' turkey, yeah?"

"It's still cookin'," Jackie lied, not quite sure why she couldn't just admit she'd burnt it.

"Oh, perfect," the Doctor said. "Rose and I'll just bop out, save a few planets… We'll be back soon!" While he'd been speaking, he had taken Rose's hand in his own and made to pull her to the door.

"_Doctor_," she admonished him, her face set in that Tyler _look_.

The Doctor squirmed under her gaze. "We've got a time machine!" he protested. "We can be back five minutes ago!"

The look Rose gave him was enough to make a battalion of Cybermen cry for their mommy.

"Or– or, we could just… stay here," he amended, nervously tugging at his ear.

Rose grinned, letting him know she wasn't mad, and patted him on his still-red cheek. "Good boy."

"Actually," Jackie said softly, hesitantly, as an idea occurred to her, "A trip somewhere nice an' warm wouldn't be all that bad. It'd be sorta nice, actually."

Rose turned to her mother in astonishment. She _hated_ the TARDIS and anything to do with it.

"What?" Jackie asked defensively. "It's been one hell of a winter– not that you'd know, a'course. You've been so busy galavanting off through the universe, too busy to even phone your own mum. I reckon he's a bad influence on ya." She wagged an accusing finger at the Doctor.

"Oi!" the Doctor objected.

"Oh, come off it," Rose said to the Doctor, her tone light and teasing, "You're a horrible influence and you know it."

"You love it," the Doctor replied, not missing a beat. His grin was wide and contagious. It barely took more than a single second before the two of them were simply standing there grinning at each other, acting like complete and utter dunces.

Jackie's eyes flicked between the two and doubted that there'd ever been a room more filled with will-they-won't-they tension than the one she was in now.

Jackie waited a moment, watching them, before she cleared her throat, effectively ruining the moment. "So how 'bout it, then?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yay! Chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: Just... is this necessary? Fine. I don't own Doctor Who or any of its characters. There. Done.**

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Jackie was completely at a loss as to how Rose could simply walk into the TARDIS without looking about in awe. The Doctor, of course, she could understand. He was, after all, an alien.

The whole bigger-on-the-inside concept was a difficult one for Jackie to wrap her head around, though it was certainly easier than the fact that the interior of the TARDIS existed in a different dimension than the exterior.

"How warm do you want to be, Jackie?" the Doctor asked, pulling levers and twisting knobs. "I-have-an-extra-sweater-on warm or I'm-standing-next-to-a-sun-in-the-process-of-supernovaing hot?"

"Been there," Rose muttered, punching a button before the Doctor could ask.

Jackie blinked. "Been there?" she repeated.

"That was our first date," the Doctor added in affirmation.

"And what a _success_ it was," Rose teased him, "Evil robot-spiders, bitchy trampolines…"

"And chips," the Doctor reminded her. "We had chips."

Jackie glared at the Doctor. "Where the hell have you been taking my daughter?!"

"Ah." The grin on the Doctor's face froze and he tugged on his ear nervously. "Loads of places!"

Jackie opened her mouth to reply that _no, that isn't a good enough answer_, but the Doctor interrupted her. "Where to?"

-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-

The planet they ended up on was similar to Earth in nearly every respect. The only major differences were the purple sky and neon-yellow grass.

"Blimey!" Jackie exclaimed, stepping cautiously from the TARDIS, her head swiveling to take the planet in. "I must be mad," she added, more to herself than anyone else.

"You're not mad," Rose promised her, close on Jackie's heels. "You're just as sane as I am."

"Oh, that's reassuring," Jackie griped.

"Remind me why we need all this," the Doctor requested, stumbling out of the TARDIS, his arms filled with blankets and boxes.

"How else are we s'posed to eat?" Jackie demanded. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, as if to say, _Aren't you funny?_

"Eat!" the Doctor repeated, "Rose and I have been eating just fine without all this, thank you very much."

Rose gave him that _look_ again.

Jackie decided she really needed to ask her how she did that.

The Doctor's shoulders fell ever so slightly. "Right, yes, fine. Let's be going then," he conceded, "Allons-y!" With that, he took off at as quick a pace as he could managed, despite the load in his arms, his path aimed at a field a few hundred yards away.

Rose grinned excitedly and trotted after him, asking questions about the natives and the other lifeforms scattered across the planet.

Jackie followed, albeit at a slower pace. She enjoyed watching them converse. Rose would ask a question, the Doctor would look down at her with that face-splitting smile of his, and launch into one of his I-can-literally-talk-your-ear-off rambles, yet Rose didn't seem to mind. If anything, she seemed to enjoy them, her eyes constantly fixed on his face, smiling and nodding along.

But when it appeared that the Doctor was about to explain their mating rituals, –the alien just didn't know how to stop while he was ahead, did he?– Jackie decided to step in.

"Ya gonna tell _me_ where we are?" Jackie butted in, directing her inquiry at the Doctor.

The Doctor paused in his babble and answered, "Pecinta-bodoh II. It was named after this explorer –Kokoontua Jo– who found it completely by accident, after his dog –well, his equivalent, anyway. He was a Sokea, so it was actually a Ruam, but that's not the point…"

And so, he was off once more.

-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-

As it turns out, Jackie was more than right to bring the blankets. The ground on Pecinta-bodoh II was surprisingly moist; so much so that the trio was forced to layer both blankets on top of each other.

Despite the lack of stretching room, there was more than enough space for everyone to have their personal-bubble. Jackie couldn't help but smirk when she noticed just how _close_ Rose and the Doctor had elected to sit. And they didn't even seem to notice, which made Jackie wonder if this were commonplace for them.

"Mum?" Rose asked, waving her hand in front of Jackie's face, "Hello?"

Jackie colored. She'd been so busy analyzing her daughter and the man –alien– next to her, that she'd missed the question. "What?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "I asked if you'd brought the turkey."

Jackie's face darkened further. "I forgot it," she admitted.

The Doctor grinned. "You owe me a fiver," he informed Rose happily.

Rose gave him a playful shove. "I do _not_. She didn't _burn_ it, she forgot it." She turned to her mother. "Right?"

Jackie didn't reply.

"Oh, great, Mum," Rose complained, "Thanks."

"Pay up," the Doctor requested, his lips popping on the "p," "C'mon." He held out his palm and waggled his fingers, reminiscent of the first time he'd offered her this hand.

Rose caught his train of thought, the memory distracting her for half a second. "What? Ya think I just walk around alien planets with my pocketbook?" Rose admonished him, her tone light, "And with all the trouble we seem to get into?"

"We're not in trouble _now_," the Doctor pointed out.

"For once." Rose smiled. "It's a nice change, isn't it?"

The Doctor nodded thoughtfully. "Alright, I'll make you a deal," he offered and pointed at a tree on the opposite side of the field. "If you beat me there, I'll forget Jackie burnt the turkey."

Rose's smile widened. "And if you win?"

"Then I'll probably forget to collect anyway," he admitted. "So how 'bout it?"

Rose stared at him for a moment, considering. "You're on."

Jackie laughed at their antics. "I'll be here," she informed them, making herself comfortable on the now all but vacated blanket.

The two of them didn't seem to need to count off; they simply looked at each other, waited, and in perfect synchronism took off, sprinting toward the chosen tree.

Jackie had to do a double take when she saw her daughter run. This was the same girl who'd worked in a shop, just a year and a half ago, yet she ran with the speed and agility of a practiced athlete. Her form was lacking, but she moved with enough confidence that Jackie couldn't help but wonder where her experience was coming from.

_She's alive_, Jackie reminded herself, _that's all that matters._

From her vantage point, Jackie couldn't tell who hit the tree first. When they collapsed into each other, laughing and catching their breath, Jackie caught her own breath hopefully. But then they broke apart, repeating their mad dash in the contrasting direction.

Jackie sighed. When would they figure it out?


End file.
